July, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Hall Of Fame Jockey John Rotz Dies At 86

A class act both in and out of the saddle, Hall of Fame jockey John Rotz died peacefully at the age of 86 at his farm in Warrensburg, Illinois, on July 12. Rotz, who won 2,907 races and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1983, was North America's leading stakes-winning rider in 1969 and 1970, when he rode Hall of Famers Gallant Bloom and Ta Wee, as well as champion Silent Screen.

Born Dec. 16, 1934, in Niantic, Illinois, Rotz went to work at Fairmount Park following his graduation from high school in 1952. He started out as a groom, hot walker, and exercise rider before making his debut as a jockey in 1953.

Known as “Gentleman John,” Rotz began his career riding in fairs in the Midwest before becoming the leading rider in New York in 1961 and 1962. He won the Preakness Stakes by a nose aboard Greek Money in 1962 and the Belmont Stakes on High Echelon in 1970.

Polite, articulate, dependable rather than flashy, his opinion was valued by trainers both before and after a race. Rotz had a gentle touch with temperamental horses and was known for his success with fillies. He won the Acorn and Mother Goose on Deceit and won notable races aboard top fillies such as What a Treat, Rose Bower, Obeah, Castle Forbes, Indian Maid, Rash Statement, and Chou Croute.

Rotz won the Metropolitan with both Hall of Famer Carry Back and In Reality, the Wood Memorial on Globemaster and No Robbery, and the Champagne on Roman Brother, Silent Screen, and Stop the Music. He also rode Hall of Famer Dr. Fager, as well as Verbatim, The Axe II, and Mongo.

Rotz, who was honored with the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award in 1973, retired from riding that year at the age of 39. His 2,907 wins ranked 15th at the time. He later served as The Jockey Club steward in New York.

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Elevating Horse Racing: Hieronymous Took Keeneland’s Broadcasting From The Bottom To The Top

In the early 2000s, hosting the Breeders' Cup seemed an unattainable ambition for Keeneland. Like many racetracks, they lagged behind in broadcast quality and needed to improve venue infrastructure. But in a dramatic turnaround in 2005, Keeneland won the first of seven International Simulcast Awards for outstanding simulcast signal. In 2015, Keeneland became the home of what's widely acknowledged as the best Breeders' Cup ever.

The year 2000, when G.D. Hieronymus joined Keeneland as Director of Broadcast Services, marked a turning point for the racetrack's broadcast department. Under Hieronymus' leadership, Keeneland became the most technology-advanced broadcast facility in horse racing across the US.

Leading the broadcast signal innovation

Keeneland's broadcast signal struggled with average standard definition (SD) quality. In 2000, Keeneland approached Hieronymus, then Vice President of Production at Hammond Communications, and tasked him with transforming its simulcast broadcast to stand out from the crowd.

Hieronymus believed in the power of delivering a compelling fan experience both on-track and in-broadcast, and was committed to upping Keeneland's game.

“Compared to other sports, horse racing has been miles off delivering great broadcast coverage and an engaging at-venue and off-track viewing experience. At Keeneland, we were determined to change that with the right technology,” Hieronymus said.

Keeneland was ahead of its time in recognizing that network air time relied on the racetracks delivering a high-quality broadcast signal. To meet this goal, Hieronymus concentrated on making Keeneland the first full-HD racetrack in North America. The Keeneland team upgraded the camera equipment and control room, dramatically improving the racetrack's simulcast signal and distribution. They were also one of the first racetracks to include a TVG-dedicated position in the control room, helping increase their TVG air time.

“We were committed to making the networks' job easier and delivering the signal quality they needed to make Keeneland look good. We've built our control room on this premise,” Hieronymus said.

The Breeders' Cup milestone

During Hieronymus' service, Keeneland hosted the Breeders' Cup World Championships in 2015 and 2020. The horse racing industry still praises the 2015 competition for its great planning and execution despite difficult weather conditions at the time.

In 2020, the Breeders' Cup returned to Keeneland under even more challenging conditions. With COVID-19 protocols limiting at-venue audience attendance, the virtual viewing experience became even more important. This was the perfect opportunity for Hieronymus and his team to revolutionize fan engagement at Keeneland.

“As a horse racing fan and wagerer, I've always felt the viewers were at the mercy of technical directors, who typically only focused on the top horses in the race,” he said. “This meant we hardly got the chance to see other horses during pre-race. I wanted to change that.”

Keeneland, NBC, and Breeders' Cup deployed over 80 television cameras covering the event, but Hieronymus wanted to take the fan experience a step further. Together with the Breeders' Cup and LTN Global, he delivered the Contender Cam, the ISO coverage of every horse in every race. The Contender Cam provided 14 individual views of each horse, from when the horse entered the paddock to when it entered the starting gate. This footage of individual horses, available on the Breederscup.com app, Player Show, and NBC, enabled fans and bettors to see their preferred horses up close before placing their bets — replicating and enhancing the in-person fan experience.

HD TV Renovation/Upgrade. Photo Left to right Lauren Warren, Philp Richardson, GD Hieronymus, and Curt Toumanian from Pegasus Communications, Inc.

The Breeders' Cup also featured 360° VR technology, providing an immersive live fan experience of the walking ring and Winner's Circle, and jockey cams allowing fans to experience live view from up to two jockeys in each race. In addition, the Breeders' Cup deployed a 100-miles-per-hour BatCam that provided dynamic aerial views of the races.

Becoming a world-class technology-driven leader for Thoroughbred sales

Aside from a top racetrack, Keeneland is also the Thoroughbred industry's leading auction house, with the most bloodstock going through auctions. Hieronymus and his team introduced a technology infrastructure to optimize the sales operation and buyer interaction and attract more interest worldwide. From a new control room to touchscreen devices that share data and information when horses come in and are integrated with the sales systems, Keeneland has led sales innovation.

In 2020, Keeneland introduced remote bidding to compensate for the pandemic-induced travel restrictions and enable more buyers from across the world to take part in digital auction services. The sales team offered sellers video opportunities to show their horses well in advance and increase bids.

Every racetrack can champion horse racing experience

Keeneland's journey has demonstrated that nothing is impossible when a track's broadcast department is determined to innovate to deliver an outstanding fan experience. Starting with switching to HD and dramatically improving the signal quality, Hieronymus and his team made Keeneland the most innovative racetrack in the country — winning broadcast awards and setting the bar for Breeders' Cup production.

Hieronymus believes in driving fan engagement and creating new revenue opportunities through innovation. With the rest of the sports industry moving fast to 4K, 8K, and rich content formats, racetracks need to deliver a high-quality broadcast signal to compete. To claim a bigger share of the fast-growing sports wagering market, racetracks should create more opportunities for fan and player engagement — and data is a good way to achieve it.

Despite his retirement from Keeneland earlier this year, Hieronymus is still involved in numerous projects across the horse racing industry. Above all, he is on a mission.

“I really want to support all racetracks in raising the quality of their broadcast signal and help our industry compete with other sports head-on,” he said.

Rich Rosa is the Vice President of Business Development for Wagering and Simulcasting at LTN Global Communications. As LTN's horse racing industry lead, Rich partners with tracks across the country to help them create high-quality productions and find new distribution outlets to raise their profile — and ultimately their wagering handle. LTN offers centralized production and IP-based transport services to help tracks produce and/or distribute high-quality HD and 4K content.

About LTN Global

LTN® Global is a worldwide leader in video technology solutions for producers and distributors of broadcast-quality content. Built on the world's fastest and most reliable IP multicast network, LTN's universal media ecosystem unites modular services and integrates with other leading technologies to bring full-video-chain workflows, driving scale from creation and acquisition to monetization and delivery.

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Beginner’s Guide to the Del Mar Meet

For horse racing fans, the true indicator of summer is when Del Mar Thoroughbred Club opens its doors for its famed meet. The iconic San Diego-area track is an incredible place to visit whether you’re a lifelong fan of racing or if this will be your first trip to the track. If you fall into the latter category — or if you’re planning your first trip to Del Mar this summer — scroll down for everything you need to know about this year’s summer season.

Saratoga Merchants Look Forward to Return of Fans

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY–Precisely 52 weeks ago, King's Tavern co-owner Jason Fitch valiantly tried to be at least a little bit positive about the prospect of a racing season without spectators across Union Avenue at Saratoga Race Course.

Closed for three months by the COVID-19 lockdown, King's had reopened in mid-June at the partial-capacity limits of the time. While just being able to operate was better than nothing for Fitch and his brothers and partners, Adam and Patrick, he acknowledged it was going to be a difficult summer without the thousands of potential customers visiting the track for the upcoming 40 days.

“Whatever happens, we're definitely going to embrace it,” Fitch said. “It's still going to be Saratoga with the track and the horses still running.”

The Fitch brothers managed to get through the business-crushing stretch with King's and their Saratoga City Tavern and–like dozens of other local merchants–said they were mightily pleased that the track will be filled with fans again when the season gets underway on July 15.

“The mood, compared to last year, is different, 180 degrees,” Fitch said. “Definitely, everyone's excited. Beyond excited.”

When New York's vaccination rate reached 70% on June 15, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that restrictions were being lifted on most businesses in the state. The timing was ideal for the New York Racing Association's biggest meeting and the Capital-Saratoga region that is wedded to the commerce that the racing season at the Spa delivers.

“We're optimistic of what it is going to bring,” Fitch said. “Chatter is that it's going to be the busiest year we've ever had now, not just us, but the whole Saratoga city. So that being said, we're hoping for the best. We're not sure if it's going to be over-the-top busy, which we're hoping because after the last year of COVID and the shutdown and all that stuff, we need it for the bounce-back. It's going to be fun. As of right now, leading up to it, the vibe downtown on Caroline Street is, we're seeing Travers-sized crowds already.”

NYRA president David O'Rourke said that company officials are well aware of the thirst for the Saratoga season.

“It's unprecedented, the enthusiasm,” O'Rourke said. “It's always big, but it's just exponential this year.”

Dave Harmon, who opened his West Side Sports Bar & Grill on Congress Street in 2005, is predicting a blockbuster run in Saratoga. Harmon, with a deep background in photography for racing publications, is well-connected in the sport.

“This summer is going to be off the charts,” he said. “I think it's going to be like the Roaring Twenties,” drawing a comparison to the booming decade following World War I and the Spanish Flu pandemic.

“There's so many people and whether it's Pennsylvania, downstate, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, these people haven't seen their friends for over a year, so where are they going to come?” Harmon said. “They're going to come to Saratoga. They missed all last year. They're going through withdrawal from that. What better place to go than Saratoga and that's what's going to happen.”

Sackatoga Stables' operating partner Jack Knowlton has lived and worked in Saratoga Springs for three decades. With a small number of his partners permitted on the grounds last summer, Knowlton accomplished his No. 1 goal at Saratoga, winning the GI Runhappy Travers S., with Tiz the Law (Constitution)'s decisive victory. Knowlton said business is already booming in his adopted hometown.

“The town has been in race mode for the last three, four weeks already,” he said. “All restaurants and hotels are full. It started before the track. People want to get out and do things. I think it's going to be a meet that is going to break every record in the book, for sure.”

The Fitch brothers have operated the five-story Saratoga City Tavern for 16 years. In 2014, they took over King's Tavern, which was only open during the racing season, and have operated it year-round. Last summer, routinely described as one unlike any other in Saratoga history, was especially difficult for people who own small businesses.

“We lost the eight weeks with the track last year,” Fitch said. “Yes, the horses ran, but there were no tourists, the extra influx of people. We were extremely lucky at King's that we have a very loyal, amazing regular customer clientele. They really supported us and without that we would not have made it through that winter. There's no way. We're extremely grateful to have those people who supported us. That was huge for us.”

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